


The Quality of a Leader

by Riggy_Minus



Series: Hereditary [3]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, features some plot points from the manga anthology and Shirow Miwa manga, like not too much just a little, slight adventure?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:40:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24173740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riggy_Minus/pseuds/Riggy_Minus
Summary: As the year continues, Ruby finds herself acclimating to her role at Beacon academy. Despite her doubts, she's settling as a leader well enough, but now she's stuck watching as her friend and fellow leader, Jaune, struggle with trials of his own.
Relationships: Jaune Arc & Pyrrha Nikos & Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc & Ruby Rose, Pyrrha Nikos & Ruby Rose
Series: Hereditary [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1740427
Comments: 18
Kudos: 51





	1. Leadership mission!

**Author's Note:**

> I can't help continue writing this stuff, it's been a lot of fun. First time writing any kind of combat in forever, so I'm not sure how great it'll come across. I'd love feedback!

Ruby opened her eyes, groaning lightly as she did, the first slivers of light peering in through the window of Team RWBY’s dorm. Fumbling around for her scroll, somewhere under her pillow, she clicked the side key to clear the alarm, a miserable sigh escaping her lips as she dropped from her hanging bunk, landing on the floor with a quiet thud. Looking around her room, a hint of a smile grazed her tired face. She might not like waking up early on a Saturday, but she really didn’t want to wake up her team when she was getting up for the first leadership class. 

It was admittedly odd that Professor Goodwitch waited six weeks before starting them, but Ruby was sure there was a good reason for that. Going as quick as she could, she readied herself for the day, standing in front of the bathroom mirror not ten minutes later with a confident grin, hands resting on her hips, before breaking out into muffled laughter. Gosh she looked silly acting like that! Shaking her head, Ruby fixed the clasps on her cloak, before slipping out of the dorm and into the hallway, where she was met with a familiar face. “Hey Jaune!”

“Huh?” The blonde blurted out, jumping slightly at the sound of her voice. Giving Jaune a cheeky grin, Ruby bounced on her heels, head cocking slightly to the side. “Oh! Good morning, Ruby. You seem chipper this morning.”

“I’m always chipper in the morning!” Ruby insisted, sticking her tongue out to her friend playfully. “Come on, Jaune! We need to go to the lockers and get out weapons!”

Jaune didn’t respond, just giving a reluctant groan and rubbing his eyes. Ruby supposed she couldn’t disagree with that, it was pretty early, and even if she was good at waking up in the mornings, she didn’t mind it as much as some people. It was fun, being awake before the others, sometimes. Less Weiss around to bother her about studying, that way!

The duo walked at a rather lackadaisical pace, finding themselves nearly the last ones to arrive where the 8 leaders of first year teams were waiting, with only one person still absent. “‘Scuse me!” The rather arrogant sound of Cardin Winchester’s voice filled the room as he entered, pushing in between Ruby and Jaune rather rudely as he made his way to the front. Ruby found her face scrunching up into a scowl for a moment, though the rather dejected, resigned expression from her friend worried her. 

“Come on, he’s just a big lug.” Ruby tried to reassure Jaune, a halfhearted smile met only with a sad frown. “Goodwitch should be here soon to tell us what we’re doing, so cheer up!” 

“That’s _Professor_ Goodwitch, Miss Rose.” The stern tone of Glynda Goodwitch retorted, Ruby going rigid and feeling her cheeks warm in embarrassment as she heard some of their classmates chuckle at her. “Now, class, grab your weapons and come to Dock A1. We have a big day ahead of us.”

The students filed out quickly, Ruby cradling Crescent Rose as she walked beside Jaune, who she saw fiddling with his weapon, Crocea Mors, as it dangled from his hip. She stuck beside her friend, not confident that she could really speak to the other students who made up the team leaders of her year, especially after dealing with Goodwitch calling her out in front of the whole group. 

With Professor Goodwitch leading them, it was surprisingly quick getting from the lockers to the bullhead docks, though to be honest, Ruby figured it was mostly because everyone was afraid of her. Nothing quite so motivating as a glare from the most notorious teacher at the academy. Crowding into the sole bullhead that Goodwitch requisitioned for the day’s lesson, Ruby clung tighter to her precious weapon, afraid that one of her classmates might try messing with it like some of the students at Signal had, plastering a severe look that was met with a nervous gaze from Jaune. 

“Sorry.” She whispered, leaning a little closer so he could hear. “I just don’t want people messing with Crescent. She’s all tuned up for today and I want her to be perfect.”

“It’ll be fine, Ruby!” Jaune insisted, giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “I’m here, so everyone is going to focus on targeting me instead. You’ll be outstanding.”

Given the shocked look he gave when Ruby puffed out her cheeks at him, Jaune likely was expecting something more affirming after that statement. “What? No! That’s unacceptable. We’re going to work together today and there’s nothing you can do to stop me!”

“What?! But Ruby, I’m like, the worst in the class! I’ll totally bring your grade down!” Jaune said, Ruby’s eyes narrowing in disdain at the assertion. Before she could retort again, he raised his hands in a surrendering position. “Hey, hey! It’s your choice, not mine. I can’t stop you if you really want to.”

“Good!” Ruby nodded, poking Jaune on the nose. “You don’t get to keep sabotaging yourself, or you’re never going to get your scores up! We’re going to be great leaders, Jaune, but we have to do our best!”

“If you say so,” Jaune grumbled, his words slipping under his breath where Ruby couldn’t hear him any longer. She pouted again, not so sure that he was quite done with this whole self deprecating thing, but she hoped he would be, they were about to do something important! First the bullhead had to actually land, though, and with her spot in the small aircraft, she couldn’t even tell where they were going. 

Several minutes passed, and the bullhead began its descent, Ruby noting they couldn’t have gone too far from Beacon, and was greeted with the somewhat familiar woods of the Emerald Forest as she stepped out, Jaune following her onto the dirt. As the students gathered outside of the transport, Professor Goodwitch addressed them: “Today’s exercise will be held here, within the Emerald Forest.” Pacing in front of the group, she paused before Jaune and Ruby. “Your goal today is to track down and stop a horde of Grimm spotted heading towards Vale. While the guard could undoubtedly handle them, it’s best if we keep things nice and easy for them.”

Drifting away from the duo, she stopped again when she reached Cardin, the arrogant grin on his face fading under her withering glare, a muffled giggle escaping Ruby as she watched. “You are all leaders of your Teams at Beacon, and that means you must learn to be a leader, but before you do that, you must make sure you are strong enough to take care of your team. You will earn points depending on the types of Grimm you’ve slain, so do not be afraid of diversifying your targets.”

Looking over the group once more before dismissing them to begin the assignment, she simply advised: “do not lose sight of the purpose of this exercise.” 

As everyone got ready to move, Cardin pushed his way through, pushing Jaune to the ground as he bumped his shoulder against Ruby. She did her best to ignore his gloating about being sure to score the highest, instead reaching down to help Jaune up. Noticing the defeated frown on her friend’s face, Ruby took a deep breath. “It’ll be fine, Jaune. We can do great. Just ignore him.” She wanted to believe that, but she couldn’t help but admit the taller boy had been getting to her with his constant bullying. It didn’t help that he was targeting Jaune just as much, if not more! 

“Right,” Jaune gave a weary smile, which Ruby hoped meant he was up for this, as she unholstered Crescent Rose, the scythe expanding to its full size in her hand. Giving him a reassuring smile, Ruby took her first steps into the forest, being sure not to out pace her friend. 

* * *

“Is this really it?” Ruby wondered aloud, spinning Crescent Rose before letting come to rest on her shoulder. “It’s only been a few beowolves so far, nothing serious. I was expecting something more, hmm, imposing! Anything on your end, Jaune?”

“Oh! I’m just - uh - doing fine!” Jaune responded between grunts, Ruby turning to see her friend in the middle of fighting an Ursa, his shield awkwardly raised, nowhere near the right position to block the strike that proceeded to send him stumbling backwards. “Just - give me a moment!” 

Ruby hesitated, not wanting to interfere with her friend’s attempt, but regretted it immediately at the great sound of a crunch as a massive mace crashed into the back of the Ursa, the beast immediately beginning to dissolve into the air. “Huh, what’s this? A pile of trash just lying around in the forest?” He didn’t bother to hide as he stepped on Jaune’s back, eliciting a groan from the prone teen. 

“Hey!” Ruby shouted, her silver eyes narrowing into a glare as she looked at Cardin, her grip on Crescent Rose tightening as she remembered him her first year at Signal, all too gleeful to “accidentally” break her prototype. She should have known it was him the first day she was at Beacon, but he looked a different than he had back then. “What’s your problem?”

“My problem? My problem is wastes of space like you and that idiot. I don’t even know why you came to this academy with how pathetic you two are.” Cardin declared, smirking as he pushed Ruby aside to continue on his way. “Just know your place and stay out of my way!”

Ruby growled, fuming silently as she helped Jaune up, anger giving way to concern as she saw his pained expression. “Hey, he didn’t hurt you too bad, did he?” Her voice was barely more than a whisper, worried that she had enabled this to happen by not helping sooner. “He’s a big jerk, don’t worry about him. We’ll still do better than that lug!”

“What even is a lug?” Jaune groaned, stumbling up as she tugged his hand. “You’ve said it twice today and I don’t know what it is.”

“Oh, um. It’s a word.” Ruby shrunk a little at Jaune’s deadpan stare. “Look! I don’t know either, I just heard Weiss use it to refer to Cardin! I thought you’d know.”

"You thought _I_ would know? She calls me a bumpkin at least twice a week"

"She calls me a bumpkin at least twice a _day!_ " Ruby pouted, before a growing laugh escaped her lips, and she began to giggle loudly, grinning at her friend. "Come on, we can still win this. Cardin's a dumb jerk he won't have any idea what he's doing."

“Yeah, I hope so.” Jaune certainly didn’t sound convinced, which was a little disappointing, but Ruby was determined to not give up, especially after how they’d been treated. “It’s just, what if he’s right, Ruby? What if I’m not cut out for this? Maybe I should’ve-”

“Nope! Don’t think like that! We’re way better than Cardin and we’re going to win!” Ruby insisted, puffing out her cheeks as she stood in front of Jaune as he made sure he had his weapon ready. “We’ll do great!” 

“Heh, sure…” A beeping from his pocket cut Jaune off, and Ruby raised an eyebrow curiously. Pulling out his scroll, a look of concern painted her friend’s face. “Um, Ruby. We’ve got a problem. My scroll is listing a second horde of Grimm heading towards the city.”

“What? But, the assignment was-”

“Forget about the assignment, Ruby! This is more important than that!” Jaune insisted, a fierce expression erasing whatever concern he had as he tightened his grip on Crocea Mors and started off in the direction of the oncoming Grimm. Staring at her friend, Ruby contemplated for a moment, before running off after him. There was no way she was going to leave him vulnerable again, not after earlier. 

It didn’t take long to arrive where the approaching swarm was marked, a large unkindness of Nevermores filling the sky above the duo. “There’s so many…” Ruby mumbled, before shaking her head. Now wasn’t the time. She shuddered at the loud cries of the avian monsters, remembering how close a call she’d had with a feather during the initiation. “Jaune, I’m not sure what to do! There’s a lot and I don’t know if I can take them all down with Crescent’s shots.”

“Well,” Jaune’s face tensed as he looked up towards the Nevermores flying overhead, hand tightening around the grip on his shield. Ruby looked back at him, hoping her friend had some sort of idea. Suddenly, Ruby was able to catch a flash of pride in his eyes. “Ruby! Remember what Pyrrha does with Nora during team battles? With her shield?”

“Wait, you don’t mean, oh my gosh Jaune that’s genius!” Ruby exclaimed, twisting into a blur of petals as Jaune braced himself on the ground, his shield held up facing the sky. “One Huntress ready to jump!” Ruby announced, grinning as her friend pushed up as best as he could, firing a gravity round as he reached the peak of his push, launching herself into the air as she held Crescent Rose out to big her assault.

As she neared the first Nevermore, Ruby pulled the trigger of her sniper-scythe again, the recoil of the gravity dust sending her into a spiral as she cut through the first bird’s neck, landing on it’s dissolving body as she redirected herself. Firing off another round, Ruby exploded forward into the swarm, Crescent Rose like a blender as she spun, shot after shot, accelerating and continuing her deadly cyclone as she tore into the Grimm. 

As she began her descent, Ruby looked into Jaune’s eyes, her friend doing his best to follow her so he could slow her landing. The duo ended up in a pile as she collided with him, gleeful giggling escaping her lips as she looked up at the mass of disappearing Grimm, their essence breaking up before they could even hit the ground. 

Scrambling up, Ruby and Jaune froze up a little as they recognized Professor Goodwitch approaching, hoping that she hadn’t seen only the last few seconds of what had just happened. “H-Hello, Professor!” Jaune squawked out, giving a sheepish smile. “There was another swarm of Grimm and-”

“You thought you would intercept it. I am able to make judgments on the situation, Mister Arc.” Professor Goodwitch informed them, adjusting her glasses. “Well done, you two, on remembering the objective of the mission.”

With that, the professor took her leave, Ruby and Jaune gawking at the fact they’d managed to receive a compliment from Beacon’s most notoriously cold Huntress. “Hey, Jaune?” The most she could get out of him was a nervous grunt. “Good job out there. There’s no way I could’ve taken care of them on my own.”

Jaune returned the nervous smile Ruby was giving him, reaching out to ruffle her hair. “Thanks, Ruby. Let’s get back to the bullhead. No one is going to believe we were actually complimented by Goodwitch.”

“ _Professor_ Goodwitch.” Ruby reaffirmed with a wink, sending an elbow into her friend’s side. “Lead the way.”


	2. Standing up for yourself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After witnessing the growing conflict between two of her students, Glynda decides that they need to settle things now, before it becomes a liability. Hopefully a match in the ring will help, but given Cardin's attitude, it probably won't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying at much bigger combat scene this time! Hope it's good!

The past few days had been awkward, to say the least, for Ruby. Despite getting a good grade in the leadership class she and Jaune had worked together in, her team seemed a little dubious on her claims that the duo had actually received a comment from their stoic teacher. They were at lunch, now, and Ruby was doing her best to understand the complicated art of Dust Science. Current estimates were… yeah, she wasn’t going to get this any time soon. “So, what exactly  _ is _ Dust anyways, Weiss?” She mumbled, looking across the table at her rather beleaguered partner. 

“What?” Ruby flinched at the deadpan she received from her friend, a pout forming on her face as Weiss’ glare bored into her. “It’s a crystallized energy propellant that’s used to power nearly everything in our world outside of remote settlements. Shouldn’t you have learned that in Combat School? I’m sure Signal had that in its curriculum.”

“I didn’t exactly get to finish all the classes at Signal, Weiss.” Ruby reminded her partner, before taking a bite of her meal, which consisted of a small sandwich and a more than generous helping of chocolate chip cookies. “I always kind of, well, I slept through a lot of my dust classes! It’s not super important since I buy all my ammunition anyways, it’s not like I’ll be mixing any dust.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Ruby. You never know when a mission will have you in a position where you can’t easily resupply.” Blake cautioned, casually flipping the page of whatever book she had behind the one she was pretending to read. Ruby couldn’t see what it was but it was probably as weird as the other one she’d caught a glimpse of. “I’ve spent time… camping, in the wilds. It isn’t unheard of for people to prepare their own ammunition. Maybe I can show you some time?”

“You really mean it, Blake?” Ruby couldn’t contain her excitement at the possibility to spend some time with her team’s most elusive member. It wasn’t as though they’d spent  _ no _ time together but she only really seemed to open up to Yang. “Maybe I’ll try giving a bit more effort on Professor Peach’s dust class, Weiss. Promise.” 

“You can’t promise when you say maybe, dolt.” Weiss scolded, causing Ruby to shrink slightly, however kinder her friend’s tone was compared to the start of her time at Beacon. “Nonetheless, I’ll help you, even if you should be doing your own work.” 

“Thanks Weiss!” Ruby chirped gleefully, bouncing in her seat as she continued to eat cookies, until a great shadow covered their table. Looking up, Ruby was met with the back of her friend Jaune colliding with the table, a groan escaping his lips.

“Oh, sorry.” Of course it would be Cardin, Ruby rolled her eyes as the larger boy approached, a miserable grin on his face, “didn’t mean to kick the ball out your way, I guess cowards are just drawn to each other.”

“Cardin.” Ruby gave her best leer, which was admittedly not all that great. She couldn’t help that she didn’t have the face to pull of a Goodwitch Classic! It didn’t matter anyways, she didn’t want to give more attention to the jerkface than necessary, turning her gaze towards her stunned friend. “Jaune, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Her friend mumbled, his head shaking in defiance of his claims, as he turned his gaze towards her partner, who Jaune had developed some silly affection for. “Weiss could stand to be a little worried, though.” His mumbling was met with a deadpan stare Ruby wished she could get her partner to train her in. “Right, right. I’m fine. It was nothing.”

“You hear that, Rose, it was nothing.” Cardin said dismissively, looming over with his trademark arrogant smirk. “I guess a whining little wimp like you wouldn’t know that, though.”

Ruby’s brow furrowed, her teeth clenching slightly. “Just go away, Cardin.” She insisted, busying herself cleaning some of the food off Jaune’s uniform jacket, “are you sure you’re okay?” 

“Hey! I didn’t realize I’d finished talking to you, Rose.” Cardin snorted, stepping a little closer. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, though, trying to run away now that your dad isn’t here to cover for you. I don’t know  _ how  _ you pulled off that initiation but clearly Ozpin made a mistake letting your team in.”

Ruby tried to ignore it, she really did, but it was infuriating. Claiming she was weak was something she could ignore, but insulting her friends, her family? That was a line too far. “Oh shut up, Cardin!” She blurted out, surprised by her own anger. “Why can’t you just leave us alone! You don’t like us and we don’t like you!”

“So lively I see.” She was about to push him away when a familiar tension filled the room. Professor Goodwitch stepped forward, arms folded in indifference. Cardin backed away, as though that would mitigate his prior actions, but it was no use, Ruby could tell that much just by the glare the professor gave them both. “Why, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were about to come to blows.”

“Rose is just acting up, Professor.” Cardin insisted, his smug tone causing Ruby to clench her jaw. The dismissive look Professor Goodwitch gave him caused the teen to shrink slightly, an action any student would’ve made. 

“Perhaps.” The teacher noted cooly, looking between the two. “Do try not to cause a disturbance during lunch. I’d hate to have to discipline you.” Cardin huffed, but returned to his Team’s table when Goodwitch’s glare didn’t let up. Looking around the hushed cafeteria, the professor cleared her throat. “That will be all, students, return to your meals.”

Ruby tried to keep a calm expression on her face, but she was clearly stressed. Looking to Jaune, she gave a nervous smile. “Hey, Jaune? Maybe you and Team JNPR could come sit with us from now on? Safety in numbers, right?”

“Yeah, sure.” He didn’t sound all that confident, but he returned the smile with a sheepish one of his own. 

* * *

Ruby and her team filed into the seating area of the amphitheatre that served as Beacon’s combat arena, with team JNPR taking the spot beside them. Giving her friends a cheerful grin, she tried to get into a better mood after how much her lunch had been soured. The class was filled with a quiet buzz as the students awaited Professor Goodwitch, though Ruby noticed Cardin was glaring at her, something she did her best to ignore. “Hey, you okay?” Ruby looked to her side where her sister was giving her a reassuring smile. “You’re doing fine, Rubes. Just ignore him, you know he isn’t worth the attention.”

“Yeah, I know.” Ruby mumbled, giving a halfhearted shrug, resting her head on crossed arms as she made sure to avoid looking over at the bully. If she was lucky, no one in her team would be called down to the arena. Maybe Pyrrha could get called and beat up Cardin, that’d be nice to watch. The class quieted abruptly when Professor Goodwitch entered the room, her typical severe expression silencing any she looked at. Tapping at her scroll, she looked over the classroom, before calling out the first two opponents.

“Cardin Winchester and Ruby Rose!”

Ruby’s blood seemed to freeze in her veins, needing to take a deep breath before standing, barely willing to look up to the teacher, just in case she had the misfortune of meeting Cardin’s eyes. She could feel classmates staring at her, and she hated it so much. She knew she wasn’t the best at fighting other people but the way it felt like they were judging her made her stomach twist and her hands get clammy. Stepping into the locker room, Ruby quickly changed, stopping to catch her breath in front of the mirror. “I can do this.” She whispered, clenching Crescent Rose tightly. “Winning doesn’t matter. Just try to outlast the timer. That’s all.” She instructed, trying to give a confident smile, though it quickly faded as she entered the arena, her opponent holding his trademark arrogant smirk. 

“Are you both ready?” Professor Goodwitch asked, looking at Ruby, and then her opponent, before lowering her brow slightly. Raising the all too familiar riding crop Ruby recognized from the night she fought Torchwick, Goodwitch lowered it abruptly. “Begin.”

Instead of the taunts Ruby was used to witnessing Cardin’s bouts, he began this time by charging at her, The Executioner coming towards her in a downward swing with speed that belied his hulking size. With a startled squeak, Ruby burst into petals as she retreated backwards, adjusting her stance as she landed, being met by her opponent’s infuriating grin. 

She prepared to charge forward, when Cardin continued his assault with a broad horizontal swing. Ruby only barely managed to block it in time, Crescent Rose rattling as the massive mace collided with it’s shaft, her arms stinging from the impact. “What’s wrong, Rose? I thought you were going to attack!” He shouted, resting his weapon over his shoulder. “You said you wanted to be a Huntress, but you’re still just as much of a coward as you were in Signal!”

Ruby blurred forward, cheeks hot with anger as she fell for his bait, bringing Crescent in for a wide swing, only to be met by The Executioner colliding with her stomach, sending her flying backwards, the air knocked from her lungs. As she neared the edge of the arena, she finally managed to catch her breath, clinging to Crescent Rose as she stabbed it into the ground to stop her momentum. Standing up, chest rising and falling rapidly with quick breaths, Ruby pulled her weapon out of the ground, preparing to charge.

“Is that all you’re going to do, Rose? Playing defensive again?” Cardin smirked, cracking his neck as he slowly approached, seemingly keen on making a show of things if he could get away with it. Ruby frowned as his grin grew. “Never good at committing, huh? I guess you’re like the rumors of your sister at Signal!” Eyes narrowing, Ruby’s grip tightened on her weapon, but the realization that there were murmurs coming from the observing crowd caused her to pause. They were talking about her, she was sure. How worthless she was, how she didn’t deserve to be here. How she was a disgrace who didn’t deserve to be the daughter of a hero. Cardin, meanwhile, seemed to be growing more impatient. “Well, are you going to attack or not?! Why do you even want to be a Huntress when you’re such a coward?” 

Time seemed to slow for Ruby, breathing becoming more and more erratic as the weight of imaginary voices grew. From the chorus of doubt, a single voice rang out, from, of all people, Weiss. “Come on, Ruby! You’re supposed to be the leader of Team RWBY! Show this Lug exactly what we think of him!” That’s right. She was their leader, she couldn’t afford to freeze up like this. A smile grew on Ruby’s face as she felt a wave of calm, her opponent finally fed up with waiting as he brought The Executioner down for another swing, only to surprise herself as she exploded into petals, blurring around her opponent as she reconstituted behind him, bringing Crescent Rose around in a spiralling swing that cut into his poorly guarded lower back, causing him to stagger. 

Spinning around, Ruby steeled herself for another strike, firing a round of gravity dust from her sniper-scythe as she thought of the reasons she wanted to be a Huntress, of her mother, a distant memory ever vigilant and proud of her, her father, goofy but kind hearted, her uncle, ever aloof and teasing. Of Yang, who stood ready to take the blow from a Grimm for her, even as a child. She couldn’t disappoint them, not now. She was going to be a Huntress, no matter what Cardin or anyone else thought!

Speeding forward, Ruby rushed into Cardin’s next attack, bypassing his swing before bringing Crescent up in a quick swing, striking at his elbow and causing the larger teen to drop his weapon. In a blur, Ruby struck again and again, not holding back as she fired off several more rounds, quick to tear his aura to shreds, stopping as she heard the professor sound the buzzer. Stepping a little back from Cardin, who had a startled look still plastered on his face, Ruby collapsed her weapon, placing it on her back as she turned to look at Professor Goodwitch, who seemed surprisingly pleased with the results of the event. “Well done, Miss Rose.” She was as stoic as ever, but Ruby could sense a hint of pride in her teacher, which caused her to smile a little wider. “Mister Winchester, while taunting an opponent can be a valid tactic, I would advise you choose your insults carefully, and be able to back them up, unless you wish to look like a fool to the rest of the class.”

Ruby returned to the lockers, her chest lighter with the weight of her anxiety faded for now, hands drifting down to her cloak. After getting changed, she returned to the seats the rest of the class occupied, sitting down beside Yang, who pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m so proud of you!” She exclaimed, pulling Ruby close enough that it reminded her of the vice grip Yang had her in on the airship to Beacon. “You were a little slow to start, but once you got going, that was incredible!”

“Yes, well, what Yang is trying to say is well done.” Weiss gave her partner’s sister a skeptical look. “It was good to see the boorish fool taken down a peg or two.”

“Heh, I didn’t think he looked that much like a boar, Weiss.” Ruby giggled, only getting louder at her partner’s deadpan stare. “Don’t look at me like that! We don’t use such silly fancy words on Patch!”

“Maybe I should start giving you vocabulary lessons on weekends, to make sure you don’t humiliate me if we ever go to Atlas.” Weiss pondered, smirking at the way Ruby shrank at the thought of weekend tutoring. “Hmm, maybe I’ll get you a thesaurus, specially made.”

“No, no, Weiss! Anything but that!” Ruby pleaded, looking helplessly to her sister, who just gave a shrug, and Blake, who was far too absorbed in her weird romance novel. “Weiss! I promise I won’t eat cookies in my bed for a whole week if you don’t! I can’t do weekend lessons, I have comics that need to be read!”

“Really, that’s your excuse, comics? Nothing more pressing you could use?”

“Um! I have to do leadership studying! With Jaune! Right, Jaune?!” Ruby haplessly called out, her friend jarring from his own place sleeping in his chair. Giving him her best puppy eyes just as he focused on her, she begged for him to agree. “Pretty please?”

“Huh? Sure. Yeah, leadership studying.” He said, giving an awkward thumbs up. “You’re welcome to join us, if you want.”

Weiss looked a little dubious at this, declining, and as she would later learn that weekend, she was justified, Jaune having to bring a dozed off Ruby back to the dorm, along with her stack of comics.


	3. Against Doubts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaune has been absent of late, avoiding his friends and teammates, and Ruby is concerned about it. Reassurance comes from a source she wasn't expecting, and she's determined to gives some to Jaune as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh goodness this took way longer than I wanted it to considering it goes over some stuff covered in Forever Fall (part 1). Sorry for the wait, the next one shouldn't be so long!

Today had been really disappointing. One friday without Jaune showing up to feed the chickens? That’s not the end of Remnant by any means, but two weeks? This was bad. Ruby was worried that Jaune might actually be avoiding her! Had she done something wrong? He was her best friend and he had been totally blowing her off outside of classes. Ruby frowned, grabbing a glass from the lower shelf of the cabinet, staring at the window of the shared kitchen for a moment before stepping over to the fridge, taking the milk out. Pouring herself a glass, she sighed, putting the milk back before taking a large sip. 

“Ruby? I’m surprised to see you up.” She let out a squeak, nearly dropping the glass of milk before calming herself, turning around to find Pyrrha looking at her curiously. She hadn’t really gotten to hang out much with Jaune’s partner, and thinking about it, this might’ve been the first time that they’d spoken alone. “Getting a drink? That’s not a bad idea, I was thinking of getting some water.”

“Hey Pyrrha.” Ruby would’ve ducked into her hood if she could, but she was in her pajamas, so she’d already taken it off for the day. Offering her friend’s partner a nervous smile, she finished off her drink and set the glass down. “How are you? We, we don’t usually talk much, do we?”

“No, I suppose we don’t.” Pyrrha chuckled, smiling down at Ruby, who wasn’t sure what to do. She liked Pyrrha for sure! Pyrrha was really cool. Intimidating, for sure, but she was also really nice. “You’re looking like you’re lacking a little of your usual lustre, Ruby, what’s wrong?” 

“Oh, you, uh, you noticed.” Ruby sank a little, offering a halfhearted smile. “I miss hanging out with Jaune.” 

“Oh.” Wow, she hadn’t been expecting Pyrrha to deflate so much at the mention of her partner! “I see. I guess that’s not surprising. He’s been avoiding all of us.”

“Is that why he looks so sad when I see him during the day?” Ruby asked, head tilting to the side. She didn’t like seeing Pyrrha look so sad, it was really disconcerting to see someone she looked up to, literally and figuratively, so brokenhearted. “He usually comes to feed the chickens with me but he hasn’t shown up the past two weeks. I miss hanging out.”

“Yes, well, Jaune’s been avoiding all of us.” Pyrrha’s voice was a little snappier than Ruby had expected, causing her to flinch. Noticing how the younger girl had reacted, Pyrrha took a deep breath and offered a smile. “I’m sorry. I know you’re Jaune’s friend as well, it’s just been difficult. He’s been avoiding his team a lot for the past couple weeks.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize- I’m sorry.” Ruby sank a little, looking towards the ground. “I thought I had done something wrong. That he was avoiding me. I guess it was stupid to only think it might be me.”

“What? No! Ruby, I’m sorry.” Ruby looked up as Pyrrha placed a hand on her shoulder, the older teen offering her a kind smile. “Jaune’s absence has been difficult, for all of us, and you’re one of his friends, so it’s difficult for you, too. There’s no shame in that. You’re one of our friends, too.”

“Thanks, Pyrrha.” Ruby smiled up at the girl, before a pensive expression crossed her face. “Do you know why Jaune’s been so distant from us?”

“I- I don’t know for sure.” With how awkwardly Pyrrha responded, Ruby figured she might know  _ something _ but it could be embarrassing. “Cardin’s definitely to do with it, though. Jaune’s been spending time with him.”

“Jaune’s been hanging out with that jerk?!” Ruby gaped, struggling to believe that one of her best friends could be interacting with Cardin at all, let alone hanging out. The thought of Cardin messing with Jaune after how much she trounced him in Combat Instruction actually bothered Ruby! Hadn’t he learned not to mess with them? “Oh, Jaune, why do you think that’s a good idea?”

“That’s what I’ve been wondering.” Pyrrha retorted, clearly more than a little angry at her partner’s seeming desertion of his team. “He’s been out way later than usual, and it’s been… difficult dealing with his absence at times.” 

"I wish I had known, I could've tried talking to him or something." Ruby mumbled, frowning for a moment before a thought crossed her mind. "Hey, Pyrrha? Do you want some cookies? I should have a few left and I don't mind sharing- this time, at least." The two chuckled, remembering the disaster that was Nora trying to steal a couple cookies from Ruby in the morning a few weeks prior. Pyrrha nodded, and she went to find her cookies.

"Did you want to talk about anything else, Ruby?" Pyrrha asked, Ruby returning to the small table with a plate of cookies. "You seem a bit more, well, chipper." 

"Oh! Yeah, I do. I had an idea." Ruby nodded enthusiastically as she sat across from the taller teen. "So, when does Jaune usually get back? I can try to catch him in the halls tonight or tomorrow, before the field trip to Forever Fall after the weekend.”

“When does he get back? Usually around an hour before midnight, sometimes later.” Pyrrha’s head cocked to the side as she looked at Ruby, a stern look crossing her face. “Wait, what do you mean you’re going to try to catch him?”

“Like, to talk to him!” Ruby squeaked out, “not in a prank or something! I’m not Yang! I just figured that, well, maybe a little help from a fellow leader might do him some good, if he’s having trouble!”

A somewhat pained smile crossed Pyrrha’s lips. “Ah, yes. I understand. Jaune might be more receptive from someone he’s… closer to.” 

“Hey! You’re his partner, Pyrrha. You’re plenty close to him!” Ruby insisted, smiling brightly at the older girl as she tried to reassure her. “I’m just a fellow leader, that’s nothing compared to the bond that you two share! I’m sure that once he’s out of this funk, you’ll all be closer than ever!” 

“I’m glad you think so, Ruby. Your team seems to do remarkably well together.” Pyrrha noted, smiling softly. “I hope that Team JNPR can be as coordinated as you all are.”

“You think we’re coordinated?” Ruby giggled, staring a little wide-eyed at Pyrrha. "We barely function! Just wrangling everyone to come eat lunch and dinner with you guys can be a real hassle, that's why it's usually just me. Yang is always off following Blake around, and Weiss doesn't know the meaning of relaxation. It's actually a little worrying, I'm starting to think that maybe she didn't have the best life back home, I mean I know she was rich and all but that doesn't really mean it was necessarily happy and maybe she was never allowed to have fun and Oh my gosh I've gone on a tangent I'm so sorry!"

The warm sound of a genuine giggle filled the room as Pyrrha laughed at Ruby's embarrassed pout, cheeks bright red and puffed out as she tried to save dignity in vain. After a few moments, she stared at the older teen, blinking nervously. "Thank you, Ruby." She blinked, not exactly sure why Pyrrha was grateful, but smiled nonetheless, as Pyrrha's mood had seemingly improved. "If you really want to try talking to Jaune, I think that's a wonderful idea. Just be sure to tell me if he needs anything I can help with. Now- let's finish up these cookies, right?

* * *

It was nearing 11 o’clock in the evening the next day, Ruby having found no success her first day of trying to confront Jaune. She was feeling admittedly a bit nauseous about how little success she’d had, but she wasn’t going to give up - not yet. Standing almost flat against her dorm room’s door, she peeked through the small crack she’d left by not closing it entirely. If he didn’t show up soon, she’d have to give up, but she really didn’t want to, not when they had the class trip with Professor Goodwitch tomorrow. 

“So,” Ruby perked up a little at the sound of her sister’s voice, but refused to leave her station peeking out the door. “On the look for Vomit Boy, sis? I’m not going to have to give him the big sister talk, am I?”

“Yang, he has like 4 big sisters - or was it five? It doesn’t matter! Either way, he has a lot of big sisters.” Ruby commented, not moving from her spot. “I don’t really know why you’d have to give him a big sister talk, he already has them.”

“Wait, Ruby, that’s not what I meant.” Yang groaned, undoubtedly rolling her eyes as she dropped from her bunk and walked over to her sister, a soft thunk marking the end of her descent. “I mean, do you really not get it?”

“No, Yang, I don’t.” Ruby shook her head, eyes still drawn elsewhere as she tried to shrug off her sister’s comment. 

“She’s trying to imply you have some sort of crush on that bumbling excuse for a team leader.” Weiss commented, deadpanning as she looked up from her book. “Surely she isn’t that dense, right? I mean she had to have some suitors at Signal, yes?”

“What? Yang! That’s gross!” Ruby stuck her tongue out at her sister, shivering at the implication that she might have a crush on Jaune. “Why would you even say that?”

“Well, I mean, you do spend a lot of time with him.” Yang gave a nervous shrug, brow raised as she pondered Weiss’ question. “I guess you didn’t really… show interest in anyone at Signal, but I just figured that you wanted to be swept off your feet by Vomit Boy.”

“You’re being dumb!” Ruby insisted, frowning at Yang before turning her attention back to the crack in the doorway. “Jaune’s one of my only friends outside of the team, of course I spend time with him. And he’s going through some rough stuff, I don’t know what, but it’s definitely bad, so I want to talk to him and this might be the only way I can.”

“If you insist.” Yang had a somewhat dismissive, sing-song lilt to her voice, Ruby doing her best to ignore it, thankful as Weiss spoke up again.

“Yang, let it go. I think she’s made it quite clear that she isn’t romantically entangled with that buffoon.” Ruby didn’t want to hear her team dissing Jaune anymore, and thankfully, they seemed distracted, and he had finally shown up. Slipping through the door, she only picked up the start of what Weiss was saying next. “If she doesn’t show attraction in anyone maybe she-” 

“Hey Jaune!” Ruby blurted out, not really sure how to start. Hours of planning what to say, gone in seconds thanks to all the dumb stuff her sister was insisting. Oh no she was in her pajamas, was that weird? She didn’t think it was weird but maybe Jaune did! Say something! Anything! “Long time, no see!” That wasn’t much better! Don’t make him feel bad! “Did you lock yourself out again?”

“Oh, uh, nope!” Oh thank gosh he hadn’t taken that the wrong way, that would’ve been a nightmare. He showed her his scroll and smiled nervously. “Got it!”

“I, um, I was wondering if we could talk a little?” Ruby asked, sinking her shoulders a little in preparation for rejection. Jaune gave Ruby a sheepish smile and nod, shrugging his shoulders. “Oh! Um, I didn’t actually think you’d agree. Sorry! I was just wondering where you’ve been lately.” 

“I, uh…” Jaune looked Ruby in the eyes, before his gaze darted towards the floor, the look of shame that marred his face concerning her. “I messed up, Ruby. I did something I shouldn’t have, and now Cardin’s found out and he’s got me on a leash because of it, I turned down Pyrrha when she offered to help and I’ve barely gotten to see my team. I’m starting to think that coming to this school was a huge mistake.” He sighed, slumping against his door, struggling to look up at Ruby before giving up and staring at the ground in shame. “I’m a failure, Ruby.”

“Nope!” Ruby exclaimed, looking down at Jaune with a smile. As he muttered an uncertain denial, Ruby repeated herself. “Nope! We’re leaders, now, Jaune. We aren’t allowed to be failures.”

“But,” Jaune shook his head, frowning further. “What if I’m a failure at being a leader?”

After pausing for a few seconds, Ruby reaffirmed her position on the matter as she sat down. “Nope!” 

“You know,” he commented after giving a lighthearted chuckle, “you’re not the easiest to talk to about this kind of stuff.”

“Nope!” She teased, leaning closer and grinning. “Jaune, it doesn’t matter if you were a failure as a kid. Or when you started here at Beacon.” Noticing him slumping further, she offered a soft smile. “None of that matters anymore, Jaune, do you know why?”

“Why?” He mumbled, looking up at her, his eyes meeting the serious gaze Ruby was giving, despite her soft expression. 

“It’s not just about you anymore, Jaune.” Ruby said, taking a calm breath. “You’ve got a team now, Jaune. We both do. A-And if we fail, then we’ll just be bringing them down with us.” Standing up, Ruby placed her hands on her hips proudly. “We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second. Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune, and I think that can be you.”

“Do you really think so, Ruby?” Jaune asked, his voice lilting upwards hopefully.

“Yeah, I do.” She nodded, smiling brightly. “Remember the initiation! You did so well leading your team. You managed to get four strangers, well, I guess three strangers? Ren and Nora knew each other before but it doesn’t matter! You managed to get the four of you to take down that Deathstalker, even though it was really big!”

“Aww, no, that was mostly the others, I just got in the way.” Jaune insisted, shaking his head, though Ruby could see his cheeks color with embarrassment at the compliment, something that led her to suppose he wasn’t used to getting compliments from others, either. “Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora are the ones who really did the work.”

“Yeah, but you were the one leading them! Coordinating them.” Ruby pouted, huffing a little at his deflection. “We all have our roles, Jaune, and you’re the strategist! That’s okay, to not be the strongest, especially when you help everyone else.”

“Do you really think so?” Jaune asked again, though this time he sounded more clear. “I… My dad always said that a leader has to lead from the front, to be the best and strongest of his team.”

“I think your dad might have his priorities a little wrong!” Ruby giggled, drifting a little towards her door as she blinked, doing her best to keep nice and awake. “A leader is supposed to lead, how can you do that if you can’t properly assess the battlefield?”

“I guess so.” He shrugged, taking Ruby’s hand as she offered it, standing up and smiling at her. “Thanks for being a good friend, Ruby. I guess that’s something I need to work on.”

“Maybe a bit! Just remember that you’ll come into your own kind of leadership, Jaune, you don’t have to do exactly what someone else did.” She smiled warmly, opening the door to her dorm. “Have a good night, Jaune.”


	4. Fighting Apprehension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaune did it! He actually did it! He stood up to Cardin. Ruby couldn't be prouder, but she still felt anxious. There was always a little nagging whisper at the back of her head that he wouldn't want to be her friend, just like so many at Signal. She tried to tell herself that it wasn't true, that he was definitely her friend, but there were times when the voice could get overwhelming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter for Quality of a Leader! Thanks everyone for reading, if you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it in the comments! Improving is my biggest goal with writing this stuff, so any advice is welcome!

It was the end of the school week again, and _wow_ what a week it had been! Jaune was back to being friends with everyone, and it was such a relief for Ruby. Of course, that hadn’t come easy, he had almost died because of Cardin’s nonsense and Ruby was honestly disappointed that Team CRDL hadn’t been more severely punished. None of that mattered, though, what mattered is that Jaune was going to come to feed the chickens today, and that made things so much better after two weeks without. 

Ruby sat on one of two benches at the feeding area, legs kicking eagerly as she tossed out some feed for the gathering of chickens, a wide smile on her face as she watched them. There was something about just feeding chickens that calmed her so much and it was such a relief to be here doing it again. As the sound of a voice, no, voices neared, Ruby perked up a little, looking to see who it was.

“Are you sure I can come along?” The soft, ever concerned voice of Pyrrha Nikos inquired, Ruby relaxing a bit at the revelation it was her and not someone she might have trouble with. “This is a time you always spend with Ruby- I don’t want to cut in on your bonding.”

“What? No, Pyrrha, it’s fine.” Jaune, Ruby of course recognized his voice, he was one of her besties, said. “I’m sure she’d be happy to see a friend. Besides, I could use the confidence boost.” 

Confidence boost? Why did Jaune need a confidence boost? He’d been doing so great that it was hard for Ruby to imagine him having confidence issues. Well, maybe that was a bit of a stretch but he’d been doing a lot better! “So, you intend to tell her, then?” Tell her what?! No, Pyrrha, don’t be so cryptic she wanted to know! “I guess I can understand. You know I’m with you no matter what, and I’m sure she will be, to.”

Oh gosh this was so anxiety inducing! Was something wrong? Had she done something wrong? It took every ounce of control for her to not run over to Jaune as soon as he came into view, offering him a nervous smile and wave. “Hey Ruby!” He exclaimed cheerfully, giving her a big smile and returning the wave, Pyrrha awkwardly peeking out from behind him. “I hope you don’t mind, but I asked Pyrrha to come along, too.” 

“Oh, that’s okay!” Ruby offered a small wave to Pyrrha, who returned it timidly. She was doing her best not to think of whatever the arriving duo had been talking about because it was really making her a bit paranoid and it didn’t help her talk when her brain was running on all cylinders on stupid thoughts that kept making her feel anxious and oh my gosh she was doing it again. “How are you two doing?”

“Oh, you know! We’re doing!” Pyrrha offered, giving a slight smile. “I’ve never actually been here, but I know you and Jaune frequent it. It’s rather nice.”

“It is! I’m really glad Beacon has a place like this.” Ruby nodded cheerfully, patting the bench beside her so that they’d hopefully come sit down and stop standing there staring are they thinking of what they were talking about before again and NO! Stop that Ruby! They aren’t thinking anything bad and they’re coming to sit down now. “Signal didn’t, so it could be a bit lonely at lunch. At least the racoons came to visit sometimes!” 

“Racoons?” Jaune was looking at Ruby with a raised brow, his voice a little teasing if you asked her. He sat down on Ruby’s left, happy to take from the feed bag she had and toss some out to the chickens, while Pyrrha sat on her right, much to Ruby’s surprise. She seemed a lot more timid, so maybe she just wanted to watch? “Why were you hanging out with racoons?”

“They were my friends! Sort of!” Ruby insisted, puffing her cheeks out at the skeptical look Jaune was giving her at that announcement. “They’re nice fluffy friends and they helped me find the stuff of mine that some of the other kids would hide.” Ruby felt her face sink a little at the thought, but she shook her head, renewing her smile. Think happy thoughts! Don’t think about the kind of stuff that happened at Signal! She’d been at Beacon for a few months now and it was absolutely fine, outside of that dummy Cardin. 

“Well, I’m glad they at least helped you, Ruby.” Ruby felt her cheeks warm in embarrassment at Pyrrha’s comment. She supposed it probably did sound pretty weird to hear a girl talk about being friends with racoons. She probably looked really stupid to them and STOP! THINKING! NEGATIVE! THOUGHTS! They’re her friends, they weren’t going to judge her. “It’s too bad that people were giving you a hard time, though. You’re a wonderful person, you don’t deserve that.”

No, Pyrrha, don’t compliment her more! She was going to blush! Oh no she was definitely blushing. “Thank you.” Ruby managed to squeak out, ducking into her cloak a little. Jaune chuckled and ruffled her hair a bit, which really didn’t help with the whole _not blushing_ thing but whatever. It was weird to have people other than Yang, Uncle Qrow, and her dad around to really provide positive attention. Even Weiss was a bit rougher with how she delivered positive feedback, and a bit too critical if you asked Ruby. 

“Don’t be so embarrassed, Ruby.” Jaune smiled, providing a little more feed for the chickens. “Pyrrha’s right, you’re a wonderful person, and a great friend. If nothing else, I’m glad I picked you up out of that crater on the first day.” 

“Jaaaaaune! Don’t bring that up.” Ruby pouted, but she couldn’t hide the smile on her face. “I don’t talk about you losing your lunch on the airship, you don’t talk about Weiss making me blow up all that dust.”

“Oh? I thought it was _you_ who set off that dust, are you saying Weiss Schnee, top grade in Dust Science, is the one who did it?” Oh she hated when Jaune gave her that smirk it was so proud and she just wanted to knock it off his face but he only used it when he _knew_ he was right! So unfair.

“What- you know what I mean!” Ruby insisted, giving her friend an ineffectual glare. “She should’ve known better than to wave a potentially insecure vial of dust in someone’s face like that!”

“Maybe, but who’s to say, _Crater Face_?”

“Me, that’s who, _Vomit Boy_!” 

A warm, soft chuckling interrupted the two, and Ruby suddenly felt just as embarrassed as before. She’d forgotten that Pyrrha was right there! How could she do that to a friend? “You two are so funny.” What? Really? Was she just leading them on? There was no way that Pyrrha actually thought they were funny! They were just being dorks, and if Signal had taught Ruby anything, it’s that being a dork wasn’t funny to other people, it just gave them a reason to be mean. “I wish I’d had friends like you when I was at Sanctum.”

“You didn’t have a lot of friends?” Wait, Ruby, what reason was there to ask that? She just said she wanted friends like that at Sanctum! Pyrrha’s too nice to lie, even if she tried! “That’s not right, you’re a really cool person, Pyrrha.” Yes! Nice save!

“Yeah, Pyrrha’s had a rough go of it, too, Ruby.” Jaune interjected, though Ruby guessed it wasn’t surprising that Pyrrha might’ve told Jaune a bit more about herself than she had Ruby. “That’s part of why I wanted her to come. We’ve all kind of been in that situation, where we don’t have a lot of friends.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, Pyrrha.” Ruby said softly, offering the older girl a supportive smile. “I’m happy to be your friend, you’re really cool. I still don’t know how you fight in heels, though.” 

“Ha! Thank you, Ruby.” Good! She laughed at the joke. Ruby was worried she might take it the wrong way, though technically it wasn’t really a _bad_ thing if she did, since she really didn’t get how Pyrrha could fight in heels. “It takes a lot of practice, but I’m sure you could get it if you tried.” Wait! Did Pyrrha just WINK at her? Was she _teasing_ her?? That’s crazy! Ruby had _never_ seen Pyrrha tease someone. 

“M-maybe.” Ruby mumbled, blushing again as she sank into her hood. “But I don’t think it’s worth the trouble! Boots are just more comfy!” 

“I’ll have to agree with Ruby on this, Pyrrha.” Jaune commented, still blissfully feeding the chickens. Ruby was glad he was focused on it given how easily she’d been getting distracted. “I can’t imagine fighting in heels, they’re way too hard to balance in.”

“Yeah, what Jaune said!” Ruby crossed her arms, nodding proudly, before a curious thought passed her mind. “Wait… Jaune, why do you know it’s hard to balance in heels?”

“Oh, um!” Wow Jaune’s cheeks went really bright red! That had to be the reddest she’d seen his cheeks get. “Look, I’m just saying- when you have seven sisters, you, you learn things you don’t want to.”

“Jaune,” the singsong voice of Pyrrha interjected. “Have you _worn_ high heels before?” Oooo Pyrrha was good at this, she should really tease people more often! 

“Maybe. A couple times.” Jaune admitted, ducking his head. “Look, Saphron wanted someone to help her choose heels and I promised to help her earlier in the day. I wasn’t going to go back on my word!”

“Hahaha! You’re certainly a good brother, that’s for sure.” Pyrrha chuckled, though Ruby didn’t like that her cheerful expression softened into a more serious one. “Jaune, you wanted to tell Ruby something, we shouldn’t avoid it any longer, even if we’re having so much fun talking.”

Oh no. It was time for whatever ominous thing they had been discussing before! Everything had been going so great! Was he going to tell her he didn’t want to be her friend anymore? No! That was ridiculous, Ruby, he definitely still wanted to be her friend. There was no way that wasn’t the case after dealing with Cardin. “Ruby, I have something to confess.” Jaune sounded so nervous, that wasn’t right! Well, he sounded nervous a good bit but she didn’t like when he sounded that way while talking to her! “There isn’t a good way to really say it, so, I don’t want to talk around it. I, well, I cheated.”

What? What did that mean? “You cheated?”

“I cheated!” Jaune repeated, his eyes shut tightly as he turned away, Ruby frowning at his apparent fright of her reaction. “I didn’t earn my way into Beacon, I cheated! I got my hands on some fake transcripts and I applied and somehow they got through. You were trying to encourage me to be a leader but I’m not like you, I don’t deserve to be here at Beacon, I’m a fraud.”

“Nope.” It was the only thing that Ruby could think to say, but she felt it was fair to say. “There’s no way that Professor Ozpin _wouldn’t_ have recognized you had fake transcripts. He saw something in you, just like he saw something in me.” Ruby stood up from the bench, standing in front of Jaune and poking him in the chest, right where his heart was. “You’ve got a spark in you, something that can’t be quantified by combat schools and tests. Something _more_. If Professor Ozpin didn’t think you deserved to be here, you wouldn’t be.”

“Do you really think so?” Jaune sounded so pained that it hurt Ruby. She didn’t want her friend to be hurt like this, it didn’t matter if he might’ve cheated to get where he was. 

“Of course.” Ruby smiled widely, eyes bright with a brilliant glint. “No matter how hard it might be to understand, you’ve got your place here, Jaune. If you didn’t come to Beacon, I probably wouldn’t have any friends, I would’ve shut myself off again like I did when I was at Signal.”

“Thanks.” Jaune mumbled quietly, but Ruby could see the hint of a smile on his face. This was what they’d been talking about? She had thought it was something about her, she had been afraid they’d been mad at her! Why did she always assume that? It felt selfish, she wanted to be more concerned about her friends as well! “You’re a good friend, Ruby. I know I tell you that a lot, but it’s true.” 

“He’s right, you know.” Pyrrha interrupted the protests on Ruby’s lips. “If not for you, I don’t know that Jaune would’ve had the courage to do what he did in the Forever Fall. You said Jaune has a spark, but you do, too, Ruby. Both of you do.” 

“I, um, thank you.” Ruby found herself a little speechless. Did they really see her as such a good friend? She felt like she was a terrible friend but they were telling her the exact opposite was true! Maybe the worries in her head were just boiling over again, maybe she really was a good friend. A smile graced Ruby’s face, and she pulled Pyrrha and Jaune into an awkward hug. “Thank you.”

* * *

The walk back to the dorms from the farm was nicer than it had been before, and Ruby knew that it was because she really felt secure in herself. Waving goodbye to Jaune and Pyrrha with a warm “good night,” Ruby entered her dorm with a smile on her face. “Hey there, Rubes, how are you?” She looked over to see her sister, legs dangling from her perch above Blake in the top bunk held aloft by a haphazard stack of books under each bed leg. 

“I’m doing good, Yang!” Wow! She really did sound cheerful, that was kind of weird. She was always able to be happy, but now she really felt it, more than usual. She hoped it wasn’t going to go away in the morning! “It’s a little late, I’m going to get going to bed.”

“If you’re sure,” her sister shrugged, while she got out her pajamas and quickly changed. It wasn’t too long before she climbed into her hanging bunk, closing the sheet behind her as she got comfortable. Cuddling up to her pillow under the covers, a warm smile across her face as she shut her eyes. It felt like a weight was off her shoulders as she managed to drift off to sleep without the fear of losing the friendship she had, and, now, the new one she’d gained.


	5. Confiding in Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The semester is nearing it's end, and the first of the Vytal Festival attendees have arrived from Vacuo, along with a stowaway from Haven. Unfortunately, this has caused some strife in team RWBY, which while ultimately handled, left their leader feeling an absence of confidence. Who better to cheer her up than two loyal friends with an external view?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just like with Dorks of a Feather, I seem to have trouble actually ending these! I had the idea for a one shot but found that it fit the themes I was going for with Quality of a Leader, so here it is! Bonus chapter 5! Please read and enjoy, and offer any criticism you have!

Why did things have to be so complicated? Ruby had thought things were getting better, the past few weeks since Cardin had been shown up during the Forever Fall field trip were wonderful, but all good things seem to come to an end. As she sat in the feeding area, Ruby couldn’t help but struggle with a sense of melancholy. She was supposed to be a leader, and she’d failed her team.

Blake ran away. She had lied to them about being a faunus, and when the truth came out, she ran! She didn’t even trust her team to help, she didn’t trust _Ruby_ to help! Was she really that untrustworthy a person? It didn’t help that Ruby felt unable to control her team’s differing personalities. If she had just been able to calm Weiss and Blake down, maybe things could’ve been handled a lot better. 

Looking down at the small gathering of chickens she was feeding, Ruby felt a nervous pain in her stomach. How could she have offered advice on being a leader when she was such a failure at it? Hopefully Jaune and Pyrrha could show up to cheer her up soon, it was easy to find her mind wandering to the wrong places without them. 

Several more minutes passed before Pyrrha arrived, surprisingly absent Jaune. “Hello, Ruby!” The taller girl said, her tone warm and carrying a little hint of mirth that Ruby found always pleasant, and usually meant ill for Jaune. Offering a cheerful wave, she patted the place beside her on the bench, doing her best to push negative thoughts down for now. Happily taking a seat beside her, Pyrrha offered a soft smile. “Jaune decided he didn’t need to do Doctor Oobleck’s latest assignment, so he’ll be running late. I gave him extra exercises to complete with his work out as punishment.”

“Oh?” Ruby chuckled, always finding the excitement Pyrrha had in somewhat mundane things to be rather endearing. Then she paled as she realized what her friend had said. “D-Doctor Oobleck’s assignment? What was that, again? I’m, uh, asking for a friend!”

The warm sound of laughter escaped Pyrrha's lips as she smiled at Ruby’s question. “Oh, tell me about this friend. Have we met?” 

“Well, um…” Ruby looked nervously to the side, eyes averted to the ground as she thought of a suitable description. Darn Pyrrha and her amused looks, always making Ruby so embarrassed by how much she enjoyed teasing her. “She’s, uh, small. And, um. She has really striking eyes. And! She has uh, long hair!”

“It sounds to me like you’re describing Weiss, Ruby.” Oh, darn! She thought she was being a little more clever than that! “We both know Weiss would _never_ miss an assignment, even from Doctor Oobleck. If, say, you had a friend who was about your size, with a cute fashion sense and short hair, I’d be happy to help them with their homework.”

“Well, uh. You could, maybe, convey the advice to me, and then I can get it back to them.” Ruby mumbled, ducking her head a little in embarrassment. “Just this once.” 

“Well, that’s fine, then.” Pyrrha was definitely smirking, Ruby could tell even if she was still looking away. “What do you - sorry - what does your friend want to know?”

“Maybe what the assignment was about?” She squeaked, hazarding a glance towards Pyrrha that confirmed that, yes, the older girl was indeed smirking at her. “If you don’t mind, of course!”

“Well, Doctor Oobleck wanted us to do reading on the old monarchy of Vale, from before the Great War.” At Ruby’s confused look, Pyrrha continued. “The Rhosyn Dynasty is the longest concurrent royal family Remnant has seen, at least that we have historical records for. They were the founders of Vale some fifteen hundred years ago, and remained in power until the end of the Great War. Even now, they hold a seat on the Council, even if said member has been notably absent of most meetings.”

“Wait, they’ve remained in power even up until today? I thought that the councils were formed so no kingdom would be under the sway of a single person.” Ruby spoke up, head tilted to the side in confusion. 

“Yes, well, they don’t have absolute power as a monarch hasn’t been crowned since King Zoroaster married into the family some 95 years ago.” Pyrrha explained, her smile seeming to grow at Ruby’s inquiry. “After he stepped down following the signing of the Vytal Treaty and the founding of the Huntsmen academies, no heir has been elevated to the throne. They also changed their name after the Great War and the gradual dissolution of their power.” Pyrrha then got an inquisitive look on her face, the older girl staring into Ruby’s eyes for a moment as she looked up at her. “Ruby, why don’t _you_ know any of this?”

“I, um, might’ve been sleeping in class.” Ruby admitted, her cheeks flaring in embarrassment, voice heavy with a hint of shame, “I lost a lot of sleep looking for Blake and I’ve been doing my best to study for exams and I guess it’s been catching up with me.” 

“That’s okay, Ruby.” The soft, reassuring tone Pyrrha had made Ruby smile a little, though she puffed out her cheeks as the older girl began to ruffle her hair, a habit quickly picked up from whenever Jaune did it. “I just expected you to know, given, well,” emerald eyes narrowed briefly, before relaxing again, “you’re from Vale. I’d have thought you’d know the history more.”

“I, uh, might’ve slept through a lot of history classes at Signal?” Ruby mumbled, blushing brightly. “I trained a lot at night as a kid! Uncle Qrow wouldn’t teach me how to use a scythe until I was absolutely ready, it’s a super dangerous fighting style!”

“That’s okay, Ruby, but there’s nothing wrong with learning now.” Pyrrha smiled down at the smaller girl, “in fact, I think Doctor Oobleck would say it’s rather important that we do.”

“Well, then I’m glad you’re here to help.” Ruby smiled brightly up at her friend, who seemed a little embarrassed herself, now that the younger girl got a good look at her face. That was weird. “You’re a lot smarter than most people give you credit for, just because you’re an athlete. You’ve got to be just behind Weiss in a lot of classes, and you’re way nicer than her when you help. Um, help my friend, that is! I totally already completed the assignment. Hehe.” 

“Of course, Ruby.” Pyrrha teases, chuckling at the adamant look in her eyes. “Now, tell me more about this uncle of yours. You said he taught you how to use a scythe?”

“Yeah! Uncle Qrow!” Ruby’s expression immediately grew with her excitement, a cheerful grin quick to cover her face. “He’s not, like, legally my uncle, but he’s been helping raise me since I was a little kid. He’s Yang’s uncle, from her, uh, birth mom. They were all part of the same team here at Beacon! Team STRQ! How cool is that? Can you imagine marrying someone on the same team as you, that seems so weird to me!” 

“Really? I think that’s quite romantic.” Pyrrha sounded _very_ convinced of those words, something Ruby guessed made sense since Ren and Nora were on her team and they already seemed to be married, even if they denied it. Why else would Ren get up so early to make pancakes for Nora every day? “Can you imagine the kind of trust they must have had in each other, after four years at beacon?”

Something about those words twisted in Ruby’s stomach, and before she could stop herself, she blurted out a retort. “It didn’t really help, though, did it? Yang’s mom _left_. And my mom, the kids at Signal sometimes whispered that I was born too quickly after Yang.”

“Ruby, you shouldn’t listen to people like that!” Despite her voice being raised, Ruby could tell Pyrrha was speaking only with concern, and that made her feel a little better, leaning against her friend, who seemed happy to let her. “I know that sometimes people can say incredibly cruel things, without a care in the world about what they might do. I’m sure that your parents loved each other very much, maybe even at the same time that your father loved Yang’s mother.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Ruby perked up a little, looking curiously at Pyrrha, not even really minding as the older girl started to stroke her hair gently. “I thought that if my dad was in love with Yang’s mom, he couldn’t be in love with my mom.”

“Maybe it’s not as common here in Vale, but in Mistral, love is not always considered something that is bound to a single person.” Pyrrha explained, smiling down at the younger girl resting against her. “Sometimes, three, or four, or even more people are in love with one another. Sometimes, their love is only shared between some partners, other times between all. Love is a beautiful thing, Ruby, and it shouldn’t be so easily restricted. Perhaps your parents and Yang’s mother all loved each other, equally.”

“Do you really think so?” Ruby asked, a soft yawn escaping her lips. “That sounds like it would be nice, but at the same time, so much worse for my dad, now that they’re gone.” 

“Don’t think of it like that,” Pyrrha insisted, hugging Ruby a little closer with her arm. “While you should always mourn the loss of those you love, it’s important to celebrate the love you had, no matter what.”

“Do you really think so?” Ruby thought that sounded a little nicer than the idea of just giving in to depression, but after what little she remembered of when her mom died, she wasn’t sure it was always possible to do that. “That sounds nice.” She mumbled, going a little quiet as she looked at the small group of chickens that still remained. Tossing out the rest of the feed for them, Ruby shut her eyes, breathing softly. 

“It does. I know that when my father passed, my mother struggled, but she always made the effort to celebrate the times she had with him.” Pyrrha explained, “it was difficult, at times, growing up without a father, much like I imagine it was difficult for you without your mother, but we managed. My mother spent a lot of time trying to make sure I knew who my father was, even if I could never meet him.”

“I wish it could’ve been that way for me and Yang.” Ruby mumbled, trying not to sound ungrateful for her situation. She knew that her dad did his best, and she really loved him, but it was no secret that talking about Summer Rose in their house was something done less and less as time went on, and even then, it was mostly Yang relaying things about her, or Uncle Qrow. “Dad… doesn’t like to talk about mom very much. He’s doing his best to move on, but he still struggles. I don’t blame him, of course! I just, I want to know more about her.”

“Hey, hey.” Ruby looked up as she felt Pyrrha hold her closer. “It’s okay to want that. You don’t have to be ashamed of wanting to know your mother. Especially not when talking to me, okay?” 

“Oh. Okay.” Ruby felt a twisting relief in her stomach as Pyrrha hugged her a little tighter. “Thank you, Pyrrha.”

Several minutes passed as the two simply remained sitting on the bench, before the arrival of their tardy companion. “Hey you two!” Jaune exclaimed as he approached, looking between the seated duo with a bit of mirth. “Looks like I’ve missed out on a great cuddle session, that’s too bad, Rillo always said I was the best cuddler out of all our siblings.”

“Cuddle session?!” Pyrrha sounded rather embarrassed, Ruby noted, the older girl pulling her arm away, though she refused to move from her position leaning against her. “I, um, yes, I suppose it did develop into that over time. That’s not to say there’s not room for you.”

“Aw, shucks, I’d hate to butt in.” Jaune retorted, looking between Ruby and Pyrrha was a glint in his eye she didn’t really recognize, though it reminded her a little of Yang. Weird. Maybe it was a blonde thing? “That said, I managed to finish what you, uh, assigned me, Pyrrha! I hope you don’t mind how late I was, Ruby.”

“Huh? No! That’s fine, Jaune, I know that Pyrrha’s helping you out, so whatever she says, goes.” Ruby insisted, waving her arm dismissively, though her expression began to sink. Jaune and Pyrrha had been working so hard, but what did _Ruby_ have to show from her efforts? Her team nearly collapsed over the weekend because she couldn’t keep them together. If she had been more disciplined like Jaune and Pyrrha were now, maybe she could’ve kept things from getting so bad.

“Ruby?” Ruby looked up, to find Jaune sitting beside her, the playful glint in his eyes now one of concern as he offered her a reassuring smile. “Is something wrong? You’ve been a little zoned out.”

“It’s- it’s nothing, Jaune. I’m just tired.” Ruby insisted, trying not to look into his eyes. It was hard to lie when a friend looked at her with such concern. He didn’t look to be believing her, despite her attempt to dissuade him, and it didn’t take long for her to break. “I… am I a bad team leader, Jaune?”

“What?” There was clear disbelief in his voice, and Ruby averted her gaze to the ground. “Ruby, why would you say that?”

“Jaune, I messed up.” She said, barely above a whisper. “I-I’m supposed to lead Team RWBY, and I couldn’t. If I had known my team better, I could’ve stopped the argument between Blake and Weiss- Blake could’ve at least trusted me with her secret. I’m a terrible leader…”

“Hmm,” Jaune pondered for a moment, his eyes locking with Ruby and willing with the slightest hint of teasing. “Nope!” Hey! Did he just “nope” her? That’s not fair, that was her thing! She was the one who said nope when her friends were saying stupid things. Did that mean she was saying something stupid? Ruby opened her mouth to retort, but Jaune interrupted her. “Ruby, just because you’re the leader of your team doesn’t mean you have to know everything about them right away.”

“But, if I had known I could’ve diffused the entire situation!” Ruby protested, trying to avert her eyes, though Jaune did his best to follow her gaze wherever it went, while Pyrrha returned her arm around her in a hug. 

“Ruby, we can’t just assume that our teammates are going to open up to us because we’re their leaders. Ren and Nora are orphans, I know that much, but I don’t know anything about them, about the trials they might have endured.” Jaune explained, a hint of melancholy in his smile at first, before it faded to a more resolute calm. “We’re still in our first year here at Beacon, and as the team leaders, it’s our job to learn how to lead. The quality of a leader isn’t something we can measure in one day, in one action. It’s a lifetime of choices, and I think you’ve been making the right ones so far.” His smile warmed, as he offered a hug as well, which Ruby accepted with a nod. “If you had been the first person to find me in the forest, dangling from that tree, I’d be happy to call you leader, no matter what.”

“Do you really mean that?” She asked, fighting off a whimper, as Jaune and Pyrrha did their best to lift her spirits with a joint hug of sorts. 

“Of course he does.” Pyrrha insisted, pride in her voice, “and I would say the same thing. You’re an excellent leader, Ruby, no matter the difficulties you’re facing right now. We’ve got a lot of time to improve, don’t expect to be perfect right away.”

“Thanks, you two.” Ruby mumbled, a hint of levity returning to her voice, “you always seem to cheer me up when I’m feeling down.”

“That’s our job as your friends.” Jaune said with a chuckle, ruffling her hair again. “You’re Ruby Rose, and you’re a great person, you just don’t always remember that. Now come on, these chickens aren’t going to feed themselves.”

Ruby giggled at the idea, wondering if maybe they _could_ feed themselves if left to their own devices long enough. Was it possible to unlock the aura of a chicken? She knew her dad had unlocked Zwei’s aura, maybe that was possible for other animals as well! She’d have to find out. The one thing she knew for certain, though, was that even if she wasn’t where she wanted to be as a leader yet, she could always work harder at it, she would get there in time. They had four years to learn at Beacon, that was plenty of time to get better, for all of them.


End file.
